


Happiness

by tomanonuniverse



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Character Death, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, F/F, F/M, Fuck me there's so many background ships, Im not entirely sure what that tag means but this is SO FUCKING GaY, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Muslim Character, Nonbinary Character, Other, and Domestic??? So, got sloppy at the end but who cares, i keep coming back to this because there are SO many tags I've forgotten sjkhsdklshsasa, im not doing it fahk off, sdjnkdusjhjod; im so tired ive literally been up for over 24 hours writing and stalling on this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 11:56:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15142556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomanonuniverse/pseuds/tomanonuniverse
Summary: The five times Jack Morrison pranked Gabriel Reyes on Christmas and the one time he didn't.





	Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> BITCH THIS BITCH IS TWENTY PAGES IM NOT PROOFREADIN THA FUCKHILBOY

**[1]**

_“A bientôt, mon cher. Je t’aime tu,”_ Gerard whispered into his cellphone, a soft smile gracing his lips as he exited his room. He did nothing to hide his lovestruck expression when he turned and found one of his roommates, Jack, sitting on the worn couch with his own phone in his hands. He sauntered into the area and sighed loudly.

Jack looked up from his phone and rose an eyebrow at the other’s blatant display of attention-seeking. Gerard grinned victoriously then plopped himself next to the blond, sighing again but this time dreamily. “Can you believe _ma cherie_ and I have been together for _nine months_ ,” he sang, lulling his head to the side, “I am the luckiest man alive.”

The blue-eyed man snorted and rolled his eyes but said nothing. Gerard pulled back and stared at Jack with wide eyes. “What? No dumb remark about how bad I’ve got it? No ‘when’s the wedding’s or something equally snarky?” Jack couldn’t help but laugh at the other man, throwing his head back at the other’s shock with something so simple.

“No, Gerard,” he reassured, “none of that. Not tonight at least.” At that, Gerard pulled back even more, making sure it looked almost comical. He put a hand on Jack’s forehead to check if the other had a fever, to which the blond only swatted it away and chuckled in amusement. Gerard narrowed his eyes at the scene.

It was silent for a few more moments before he spoke. “Alright, out with it,” he spoke, poking Jack’s chest pointedly, “what’s got you so awfully chipper today?” The suspicion in Gerard’s voice had Jack snickering. “Aw, come on, Gerard! It’s Christmas! You don’t really think I’d have any ill intentions on Christmas, do you?”

“No, that’s more of Gabriel’s forte if I’m being honest,” the French man muttered underneath his breath, “but this is your first and probably last Christmas away from your family since it’s all our last years here and you seem far too excited for someone with no plans.” As Jack’s smile faltered, Gerard felt a pang of guilt in his chest. Jack’s parents were all the family he had and being separated from them on a special night hurt him an awful lot and he _knew_ this, so why did he mention it?

“Speaking of Gabriel,” Gerard said, quickly changing the subject, “where is that Grinch? Did he put you up into being nice to me on Christmas because you didn’t get me shit?” At that, a small wrapped box was pelted at Gerard, hitting him square in the face. He held it and blinked, realizing it was a present. “… Okay, anywho, he did tell me he wouldn’t be able to visit his family this year either. Maybe you two could spend the day together, as if you weren’t already attached at the hip on the regular.” He mentioned, scoffing the last part. Ever since the two had known each other they’d been inseparable, and Gabriel had known Jack long before he’d known Gerard.

At the mention of Gabriel, Jack’s smile returned, albeit warmer than the giddy one he had earlier. Gerard felt himself smirk and try to hide it, because he _knows_ , but dispels the thought. At that same moment, Jack’s smile turns into something more mischievous and Gerard pales.  He barely has time to say anything as Jack takes out his phone and turns the camera towards himself at the same exact moment a door somewhere in the apartment slams open.

**_“MORRISON!”_ **

Gerard’s head whips to the sound then back to Jack, face now devoid of color. “What did you _do?_ ” The question goes unanswered because Jack is too busy laughing at his phone’s screen, waiting for something excitedly. The man would have asked what he was waiting for, had his question not have been answered by angry thumping increasing in volume.

Ever so out of the blue does Gabriel Reyes appear in the doorway behind the two men, facial expression just as furious as his voice had conveyed a few moments ago. But what caught Gerard’s attention wasn’t the fact that Gabriel was half naked, bottom half wrapped in a white towel, and all in all dripping wet most likely from just stepping out of the shower.

No, what caught Gerard’s attention was the fact that Gabriel’s usually brown curls were now an eye piercing blue that almost matched Jack’s eyes but clashed poorly with Gabriel Reyes himself.

“What. The _fuck. Is **this.”**_

Jack burst into uncontrollable laughter as Gabriel pointed at his head, glaring at him as he did so. Gerard took a moment to connect the dots; _‘a prank,’_ he thought. Of course Jack would prank Gabriel on Christmas. Neither had anywhere to go. Gerard never thought Jack had it in him, but he didn’t think Gabriel was that good a sport with it either.

But he also knew that Gabriel had a soft spot for Jack (and himself) and would handle the situation with the utmost friendliness a Reyes could manage. Which is why Jack’s screams rang throughout the entire college dormitory as he sprinted down the hall, Gabriel not too far behind him. Only a few seconds later did Gerard’s phone ping with a notification.

_I’m Not Your Father TM @soldier_76 posted:_

_MERRY CHRISTMAS @reaper_24 I LOVE YOU PLEASE DONT HURT ME_

It was a very blurred series of pictures in which a blond head in the foreground appeared to be grinning joyously while simultaneously screeching in horror as a tan figure tailed in the background, seemingly closer each picture in, with the hair very clearly seen in every single one of them. Gerard chuckled. He knows.

**[2]**

The three men graduated, that much was expected. Gerard proposed to Amelie, that much was expected. Gabriel and Jack continued to live together in the same house even after college, that wasn’t too expected but wasn’t really that much of a surprise when one thinks about it. No, none of those were surprises.

What no one expected, however, was for Gerard to not even make it to the next year’s Christmas. “B&E gone wrong,” the perpetrator had described it. But Amelie, the poor woman who’d woken up covered in her own husband’s blood, had to suffer for whatever “went wrong” during the supposed “breaking and entering” of their mansion.

Gabriel downed his glass of whatever alcohol he’d been drinking in preparation for the “Christmas party” he was throwing. Everything was so odd without Gerard around, arms linked with Amelie as he flaunted her around proudly, making the blue haired woman blush almost violently. _(A fleeting thought of where Jack had gotten the dye for last year suddenly struck him.)_ Now almost everyone was a shell of who they were, having lost a piece of them with Gerard’s passing.

“Hey.” The sound of someone entering the kitchen and placing a hand on his shoulder zapped Gabriel back into reality. Jack stood behind him, blue eyes full of concern and care. Gabriel shut his eyes and sighed through his nose, leaning into the touch for comfort. The motion didn’t go unnoticed by Jack, who took a seat next to the Latino and wrapped an arm around him.

“You okay?” The question was so simple, yet it was not. Jack’s thumb rubbed circles on Gabriel’s bicep as he held him to him. Gabriel opened his mouth to respond but he felt his throat constrict and mouth go dry as he made eye contact with Jack. He wasn’t sure what exactly had rendered him speechless but he was sure it was because he didn’t have a true answer, not because of how strongly Jack was looking at him.

Gabriel placed his head on Jack’s shoulder and heaved out a sigh. “I will be,” he reassured in a murmur, mostly to himself. Jack’s brows furrowed in worry and he placed a hand underneath Gabriel’s chin and lifting it so he can look into his eyes again. He found his breath halting at what he saw. Pain, longing, _trust._ Gabriel was hurting and wasn’t hiding it.

“Do you want to cancel the party?” Before Jack had finished his question, Gabriel was shaking his head at the suggestion. “Nah, a little late for that anyway. Pretty sure they’ll be arriving any mi—” His words ended abruptly, interrupted by the sound of their front door bell. The pair snickered softly at the convenient timing.

They stood up and Jack patted his back gently. “Go open the door,” he said, “I’ll make sure everything’s set.” Gabriel nodded and exited the kitchen, walking past the tree they’d set up and to the door. He looked into the eye for a moment and stiffened, before shaking his nerves away and opening the door slowly. There on the other side stood Amelie Lacriox. Or at least, what was left of her.

Her hair had had gone from armpit length and vibrant blue to ridiculously long and an ombre of her natural jet-black hair to a dark navy blue of the dye that stayed too long. It was still smooth as silk, meaning she took care of it even if she hadn’t redyed it. There were bags underneath her golden eyes, exhaustion clear on her features.

Upon seeing Gabriel, however, her features eased and her lips twitched upwards every so slightly. “Hello, Gabriel,” she greeted smoothly, moving forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Hey Ame,” he greeted back, wrapping his arms around her in return, “glad you could make it.” He murmured and spoke true.

Gabriel was the only one out of all of Gerard’s friends that Amelie ever actually managed to befriend as well and he was almost sure if anyone else had been hosting the party she would not have showed. To his surprise, someone made a content noise from behind her. Amelie let him go and stepped back next to the other person, or rather people, there as well.

Ana Amari and her daughter Fareeha Amari stood on each side of the slender woman. “I don’t celebrate Christmas nor do I drink so I’m basically here to drive everyone back to their homes tonight,” the Egyptian woman jested while pointing at her hijab, “but I also drove Amelie here because hey, widows have got to look after one another, no?”

Gabriel looked at Ana in absolute _alarm_ as she rose one of her hands in the air, the one where her wedding ring from Sam’s proposal was, and looked at Amelie expectantly. He hadn’t expected Amelie to snort drily and tap her own ring against Ana’s in agreement, moving past Gabriel and into his home. Ana winked at him and followed the other woman inside.

“Dark humor works magic for coping,” Fareeha pointed out, snickering like the teenager she is, amused at Gabriel’s puzzled expression, then moved past him just as the others did. Gabriel blinked his thoughts away and shut his door, turning around and allowing the others to follow him into the kitchen. 

Gabriel chuckled sharply when he saw Amelie sitting at the bar stool they had, wine glass in hand and she looked at him expectantly with a peaked eyebrow. He grabbed the finest bottle he had, which wasn’t much considering how wealthy Amelie was but he ignored that thought, and began to pour the woman her drink.

“Woah, woah, don’t start the party _now,”_ Fareeha interrupted, “Torbjorn, Reinhardt, and Angela aren’t here yet!” She waved her arms around, as if to emphasize the absence of the party members she mentioned. Ana waved at her daughter and laughed. “Yes, I’m sure you want to put pause on a party just to see Angela first, now that she’s of legal drinking age.”

 _“Mama!”_ The four-teen year-old shouted indignantly, face reddening with heat from embarrassment. Gabriel and Amelie snickered in slight amusement and Ana only gave Fareeha a knowing look. “Ugh, I’m gonna talk to someone that’s actually cool,” Ana gave a mockingly affronted gasp, placing a hand on her heart dramatically as Fareeha rolled her eyes, “uncle Gabe, do you have anything for us nondrinkers to entertain ourselves with?”

Gabriel set down the bottle of wine in his hands and scoffed. “Of course I do, I _invited_ you nondrinkers here in the first place,” he reminded her. Fareeha nodded and gave him a look that said ‘good point,’ making him smirk and shake his head. He walked to the fridge and bent over slightly, grabbing the handle and swinging the door open. “I happen to have your favorite, actua—”

 _“Merry Christmas_ — _!”_

Gabriel slammed the door of the fridge so hard the object swayed back and forth unevenly with a threat to topple over and crush the man who’d now straightened harder than a ruler.

The room was as silent as the dead before the Amaris had toppled over themselves, only in laughter. Gabriel put his hand down from his chest and opened the fridge door, stepping backwards as Jack fell out, seemingly wheezing from laughter with a phone in his hand. The brunet could only stare at the blond with wide eyes, watching him struggle for breath.

“Wh…” Gabriel was a loss for words, only good at staring. “How fucking long were you in there for?” That was the first question Gabriel managed to ask. For whatever reason, Jack seemed to laugh harder and pound his fist onto the ground desperately.

“Oh—oh my f-fucking-g _God_ , Gabe, I—” The man wheezed, unable to properly form a sentence. “Y-You should’ve s-seen your _face,_ I-I’m fucking _dying_ —" Jack panted, wiping tears out of his eyes as he handed Gabriel his phone to take a look at the video for himself. Gabriel found it a few minutes long, deducing that Jack was in there for quite a bit.

He pressed play, and after a few moments of darkness, the fridge door opened. _“I happen to have your favorite, actua_ _—”_ He remembers he had been in the middle of saying that to Fareeha, before Jack suddenly jumped in his face and shouted for happy holidays. Gabriel has thrown himself away with enough force to break his back as his eyes bulged out of his sockets, then the screen went dark almost immediately as the fridge door was slammed shut.

The man chuckled and rubbed his temples, looking at the fool in the video and knowing it was himself. He had to admit though, his face was pretty funny. It was an amazing feat, really, that Gabriel hadn’t immediately punched Jack in the face, but from how hard and fast he’d shut the door in face he wouldn’t doubt he could’ve almost broken his nose.

The Amaris were watching over his shoulders as sudden laughter filled his ears. “Amelie,” Fareeha called between snickers, “Amelie you’ve _got_ to come see this! Look!” She grabbed the phone and went to show the woman who remained seated where she originally was, although a bit _too_ still for anyone’s liking.

It hit Gabriel like a truck, that this may have been an implication for something else. Maybe this could have somehow reminded her of that night. Something shocking, something no one expected, and hiding in their own home nonetheless. The wound was definitely too fresh, too soon, and the implications were too clear to be mistaken. They must’ve accidentally triggered her. She was—

—laughing.

Amelie Lacriox was laughing. For the first time since her husband’s murder, Amelie Lacriox was _laughing._ Genuine, earnest laughter. She snorted in an unladylike manner and slapped a hand over her mouth every time she did so, pink filling her cheeks. “I-I am s-sorry, _mon amie_ ,” she managed between chuckles, trying to explain herself and failing, “you just look so _silly, merde_ —"

Gabriel’s shoulders sagged in relief and unbeknownst to him, so did everyone else’s. He smiled gently at Amelie as she laughed, what felt like pride swelling in his chest as he listened to her make a joyous sound for once. He turned his head and looked at Jack, whose shocked look spread into a wide grin ever so slowly as he realized what he’d just done.

He looked so proud of himself, for making someone else laugh. He was so happy everyone around him was happy too. Gabriel looked into his blue eyes, and his throat tightened.

Ah. Fuck.

**[3]**

Jack was sweating. He was sweating all the way through his button-up and through the sweater he wore above it, and all of this happening during winter time. His palms could slide off of one another like they were on a skating ring if he ever tried to rub them together. Had it not been for the cool air, his hair probably would have stuck to his forehead.

Gabriel walked into the room Jack was in and slipped his beanie on his buzzcut (he hasn’t grown his hair back since the first prank two years ago) then asked: “Hey babe, you ready?” He paused, seeing the state the other man was in. His brows furrowed but he still smiled at the sweating man, approaching him slowly and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Woah, hey,” he called out, snapping Jack back to the present, “everything okay?” When no witty remark came at him, Gabriel’s smile fell and he stood in front of Jack with concern in his eyes. Jack avoided the other’s gaze as if it were the last thing he had to do and it didn’t go unnoticed by Gabriel. He grabbed the blond’s chin and turned his head to him.

“Hey.” The stern call made Jack’s blue eyes finally hold contact with Gabriel’s eyes. “If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. It was kind of sprung up with no warning just this morning so I get it.” Jack shook his head gently. “That’s not it,” he whispered lowly, “it’s just…” Jack paused, growing nervous. He couldn’t find the correct words to say it without seeming like an idiot.

Gabriel gave him an encouraging smile. “You’ve _met_ my family before, _mi amor_ , and you _know_ they love you,” he explained, “so what’s there to worry about?” Jack laughed and shook his head, placing his hands on top of Gabriel’s then intertwining their fingers together like a perfect puzzle piece. “No, Gabe, I’m not worried about…”

The Latino only gave him a poker face as he trailed off. Jack struggled for words once more before sighing and giving up. “I know I’ve met your family before and I know they love me, and I love _them,_ ” Gabriel grinned at that, increasing Jack’s heart rate as he spoke, “it’s just… They know me as your _best friend,_ not your…”

“Boyfriend?” Gabriel supplied and Jack snorted. “I was going to say _lover_ , but if we’re suddenly sixteen again then yeah, boyfriend.” The brunet rolled his eyes and pushed the other’s face away from him, smiling despite himself. Jack laughed and flailed his arms slightly in order to push the other’s arms away, shoulders shaking in mirth.

Time slowed for a brief moment and Gabriel grabbed Jack’s waist, pulling him back to him moments after just pushing him away. Jack grinned almost victoriously, as if that was what he wanted all along, and wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s neck. The men snickered slightly at their own actions and Gabriel leaned in, pressing their lips together gently.

Jack smiled in the embrace of the other, closing his eyes and marveling in the feeling of his lover’s beard tickling his face. He tightened his grasp on him, but Gabriel pulled back slowly before the kiss turned into anything more than sensual. Jack felt exposed under the adoring gaze Gabriel shot his way but grinned when the other sighed like a lovestruck fool.

“I love you,” Gabriel breathed, searching Jack’s blue eyes as if they had the answers to the universe. Jack felt himself melt into the other’s arms, pressing their foreheads together. “I love you too,” he whispered back, expression saying it all but still feeling the need to let Gabriel know. With the way both of the men’s faces filled with red, one would think they really were teenagers admitting their love for the first time.

Gabriel sighed and ran his hands up and down Jack’s sides, sending shivers among other things down his spine. “I love you and my family loves you and I’m positive they won’t mind us dating. Even if they do, I’ll fight for you,” Jack’s jaw dropped and Gabriel rose and eyebrow, “what? Did you think I wouldn’t?

The blond didn’t respond and Gabriel’s shoulders dropped in disbelief. “Jack.” He said, pulling back in shock. “I mean, you and your family are…pretty close,” Jack offered lamely, “I’m just some dude you met at college.” Gabriel’s eyebrows shot upwards, almost offended at what Jack just said.

He shook his head disbelievingly then spoke. “Jack. You’re not just _someone_ to me. And yeah, we’re a close-knit family, but they’d understand that I wouldn’t fight for you were you not worth it,” Gabriel said sternly, raising his hands and placing them on Jack’s face. “I love you _so_ _much_ , Jack Morrison. You’re my everything. Not even _mi familia_ could keep us apart. Do you understand?”

Whatever words of protest Jack had on the tip of his tongue vanished as he stared at Gabriel with wide eyes and a hung jaw. His heart was beating so loudly it was the only thing he could hear in his ears and his throat kept tightening every time he looked deeper into his lover’s eyes, finding no lie, no joke, and no sarcasm in the other’s words.

“… Okay,” Jack said in a hushed whisper, unable to raise his voice above that, “I… I understand. Thank you. I love you so much too.” He spoke in a daze before the words set in, his brows furrowing and his eyes watering. Gabriel gave him a soft smile, satisfied that his message had gone through. He rubbed his thumb at the sides of the other’s eyes.

“Wipe those tears now, _mi sol,_ ” he mumbled lovingly, “sadness doesn’t fit Christmas, or you.” Jack barked a laugh at that, pulling back and wiping his eyes. Gabriel looked at him fondly before tugging at one of his hands, leading him after him. Jack followed silently, a dumb smile pulling at his mouth despite his best efforts to keep it at bay.

It was only when they were outside did Jack realize what was happening. Gabriel was pulling out his garage and car keys out of his pockets and Jack felt his eyes widen. “Wait!” He shouted suddenly, reaching forward and attempting to snag the keys from Gabriel’s hands. The other seemed to expect this as he pulled his hand away and laughed.

“Come on Jack, no more stalling,” he said, pushing the other off of him, “I know you’re nervous but we’ll be late if we don’t go now. The Reyes may be loving but we are in no way patient.” He jested, turning to the garage door. Jack jumped in alarm and waved his arms desperately. “No, that’s not it! Gabe, _don’t!”_ He shouted, but it was too late.

As the garage door slide open oh so slowly, Gabriel felt his posture sag and his smile drop. He became deadpan as he stared at his abomination of a car. All over the outside, the car was covered in sticky notes of all colors, looking almost festive to go with the holidays. The front window was not covered so that Gabriel could see inside the car, also covered in sticky notes.

He turned his head to Jack with flattened lips and an unamused expression. “… Merry Christmas?” Jack said, turning to Gabriel and grinning sheepishly. The Latino ran a hand down his face and sighed. These were going to be a pain to remove.

The click of a camera reminded him who was going to clean it up.

**[4]**

Jack laughed maniacally. Gabriel was so foolish. Oh, so foolish, that Latino with a Greek god’s body. A Greek god’s body that was going to get absolutely drenched in food colored water the second it steps through the front door of their house. The man had been away from their home for over a month, his job making a “conference,” or whatever. It was probably good, perhaps a promotion, but Jack didn’t care. He was coming home today.

As Jack sat on the couch that he positioned just right to be in front of the door precisely, he briefly thought on whether he should start a YouTube channel for pranks. He’s been pranking Gabriel for, what, four years now? And the man _never_ sees it coming. Maybe he does but still falls for it, which is good enough for the blond.

But, no. Starting a channel wouldn’t work. YouTube prank channels always go for extreme pranks. His harmless pranks would get him nowhere within the community. Just sharing the events on Twitter with his friends sounded good enough. He couldn’t embarrass Gabriel in front of strangers, and he probably doesn’t have it in him to up his jokes to anything of the YouTube-worthy caliber. Fake death? He couldn’t do that to Gabe.

Or could he?

The thought went away just as quickly as it had come, only because the sound of a car pulling into the driveaway ran it over. Jack stumbled for his phone and pulled it up, already pressing the button for video. He could barely hold in his excitement, giggling almost madly as he heard footsteps from beyond the door. It wasn’t like it was his best prank yet, but he could almost _feel_ Gabriel chasing him around their house because of it.

He loved it when Gabe would break his façade for a moment or two, loved catching him by surprise and watching it fall for a brief second. And when he’d chase him around and he’d feel adrenaline coursing through him, he’d also feel undeniable and ground-breaking love. Damn. He loved his Latino with the body of a Greek god.

Jack had to physically shake his head violently to stop thinking and return to the moment as he heard the door click once, twice, and thrice, now unlocked for Gabriel to entrap himself in Jack’s genius devious snare. Jack was already laughing, he was. He bit his lip and snorted behind the camera, eyes dilating as the other set foot in a crack through the door.

“ _Mi sol,_ I’m ho—”

The blond man was cackling before the water had even hit Gabriel, which probably should have tipped him off, had it not been too late. In a matter of seconds, Reyes was absolutely soaked to the bone in a series of different colors, though purple was the most evident. It would have looked like he was covered in slime had it not been obviously liquid.

Gabriel gave the other his usual poker face, watching as he went mad with laughter. Jack brought the camera closer to Gabriel’s face. “Merry Christmas, babe,” he finally managed the words before wheezing like a car engine, staggering back as he allowed the camera a full view of Gabriel’s colorful clothes and the mess on the floor around him.

Jacked suddenly noticed something in Gabriel’s hand. It took him a few moments to realize that it was paper and he was immediately flooded, pun intended, with guilt. He unconsciously turned the camera towards the papers as he reached for them, an apology falling out of his lips through snickers. “Oh, shit, babe, I- pfft, I’m sorry, I hope that wasn’t important work stuff? I can make it u—”

It was only then did he realize the familiar ensembles on top of all the papers.

In an instant, his phone was forgotten and he snapped his head up to look at Gabriel so fast there was no doubt he had given himself whiplash. Gabriel was smirking as if he were already two steps ahead of Jack and if that didn’t turn his blood ice cold with both fear and anticipation then nothing in the whole wide world ever will.

“Gabriel,” Jack began carefully, “what is this?”

It was like he’d said the magic words because Gabriel was suddenly moving, rolling his shoulders and craning his neck, a sly grin making its way onto his face. _“Well,”_ he said in a sing-song voice, “remember how I was away for a long while because a quote unquote “conference” from my current place of work?”

 _‘A long while’s an understatement,’_ Jack thought, but nodded nonetheless, throat tight. “As painful as it was to lie to you, _mi amor,_ I regret to inform you that I was not at any job conference. I was actually doing something much, much more important. Important enough to make me lie to you.” Gabriel explained quietly, smiling at Jack gently as he stepped aside. Jack dropped his phone.

Behind Gabriel were three people he’d become very accustomed to on varying degrees over the course of the past four to six months. Joel McCree, a seventeen-year-old half-Latino boy that Gabriel was currently fighting a case for his custody against his “uncle Vernon.” _(“More like uncle_ vermin _.” A fork clattering. “Gabe.”)_ “Sombra,” or Olivia Colomar as they’d come to know later, a fifteen-year-old Latina girl that Gabriel had found digging through their trash for food and decided to cater for. Lastly, Hana Song, another fifteen-year-old girl, only Korean not Latino, and also the girl that had picked Jack’s adoption file from the center she was in.

And yet, despite knowing who they are and knowing their names, they introduced themselves differently.

“ _Jesse_ McCree- _Reyes_ , at your service,” the boy introduced, tipping a cowboy hat that he had on his head for whatever reason. “Olivia ‘Sombra’ Colomar-Reyes,” the next child said, “I had _jefe_ legally put “Sombra” as my middle name. Cool, right?” She said, snorting at her own words. The Korean girl next to her rolled her eyes. “Hana Song-Morrison,” she said, “though I think you know my being here was inevitable. You loved me too much when we met, I could tell.”

The American stood stone still, eyes wide and hands slapped over his mouth in shock. Gabriel’s smile faltered for a brief moment before he cleared his throat. “If you haven’t pieced it together yet, I was sorting out the proper paperwork for _completely legal adoption_ on both our ends,” at his emphasis, he glared at Olivia, who stuck a tongue out at him as if she’d known him her whole life, “I asked my boss for a month off and devoted the entire time to doing this. Hana’s adoption agency was shitty enough to let me do your paperwork for you since we’re dating. They definitely need new people.”

Silence.

“So basically, we have children now,” Gabriel summarized. “Merry Christmas?”

Still nothing. For a tense moment, fear instilled itself not only into Gabriel but into the three children behind him. Gabriel and Jack had been planning the adoption of all three of these children for months, it wasn’t a secret to anyone. But for a moment, Gabriel thought he’d went too far, doing something like this without Jack. Maybe he would be angry that he did it behind his back, or worse, left out. Maybe he’d have to _let them go._ But honestly? As much as he loved Jack, but he’d rather die. He’d fight for them all over again if he must.

He may or may not have taken a protective stance and put the three behind him because Jack looked at him in a way that implied that he had moved at all. Realization crossed the blond’s face and for a short moment, hurt, but it pushed itself down as Jack slowly came to his senses. “Holy shit,” he whispered, “holy _shit!”_

At the words, he jumped onto the drenched man and squealed. Gabriel would have toppled over onto the people behind him had he not trained himself from all the times his lover had jumped on him excitedly and instead spun his significant other around, a grin finally settling onto his bearded face as his eyes met with Jack’s.

He was crying. And as he set his partner down and opened his arms to allow three more people to barrel into the embrace, he found that all five of them were too.

“I’m glad that went well ‘cause you kind of destroyed the receipts—”

_“Gabriel.”_

**[5]**

Jack walked into his room with the biggest smile on his face. It was the most wonderful time of the year, after all.

“Good morning, Gabe!” He sang cheerfully, carefully balancing a tray of food on one of his hands and pulling the blinds open with another. As the white snow became visible so did the natural light of the outdoors, making Gabriel groan into his pillow before pulling it from under his head and slamming it over it.

His lover chuckled. Gabriel was never a morning person, born and raised in Los Angeles. But Jack was an Indiana farm boy. He rose with the sun, and occasionally, even before it. “Now I know you’re not a morning person,” another grunt interrupted him, to which Jack rolled his eyes at, “which is why I took it upon myself to make you this wonderful Christmas breakfast.

“Christmas breakfast, huh?” Gabriel rasped, propping himself up on his elbows to blink his sleep away. Jack felt the breath get knocked out of him for a moment because of how he husky his voice sounded when he wakes and how the blankets slipped off of his shoulders and down to his waist showing off his muscular torso and _pull yourself together, Morrison._

Jack shook his head and leaned down, giving Gabriel’s cheek a small kiss which he quickly returned before the other managed to pull away. Jack chuckled and watched him sit himself up then placed the tray on his legs and plopped down next to him. Gabriel stared at the tray. It consisted of a veggie omelet, three slices of bacon as opposed to his usual two, what appeared to be spoonfulls of corn on the side, and a separate plate of French toast, all accompanied by a mug of black coffee.

“Is this your prank this year?” Gabriel chuckled. “Gotta say, cheap of you to get a man through his stomach.” Jack snorted but shook his head at the words. “There are very little meals that I can cook and almost all of them are breakfast food. I’m just letting my skills shine right now because you’re cooking lunch later.”

“Of course,” Gabriel laughed. He began to survey his food, narrowing his eyes at it comically. He picked up his fork and poked the omelet, as if expecting something from it. “Well, if it isn’t rigged with explosives, you’ve probably poisoned it,” the Latino man decided, setting his fork back down on the tray and looking accomplished with his discovery.

Jack choked on his own spit. “Jesus Christ, _no!”_ He exclaimed, cackling at his lover’s absurd claim. “There’s no poison, I _promise,_ ” he reassured lightly, “here, look.” Jack picked up the fork Gabriel put down and broke a piece of the omelet away from the rest, putting his hand under the silverware and guiding it to his own mouth.

“See?” He said beyond the mouthful. Gabriel watched him closely for a moment. “I suppose,” he relented. Jack beamed widely and Gabriel’s heart melted, the contagious grin forcing a smile out of him. He broke off another piece and lead the fork to Gabriel’s mouth instead, making the man raise an eyebrow. “What, you gonna feed me now?”

Despite his taunt, he complied and received the food. “Well, yeah,” Jack scoffed as if it were obvious, “I woke you up at his ungodly hour just to spoil you, you know.” As he placed a piece of bacon in Gabriel’s mouth, he leaned back and looked at the other up and down. “Besides,” he laughed, “you’re old, Gabe.” He told the man only three years older than him. “You’ve got more grey hair than I do and you’re thirty-six,” Gabriel replied smoothly.

“Hey, it’s not my fucking fault white people age like milk!” Jack shouted indignantly, causing to swallow and throw his head back, laughter booming throughout the room and probably the house as the door was technically still open just a crack. The Latino moved the tray from his lap and onto the nightstand, instead grabbing Jack and pulling him there instead.

Jack barely had time to yelp before Gabriel’s lips were on his. He smiled, because Gabriel’s tough act was such _bullshit_ when he was a cuddly teddy bear with him. _‘Only for him,’_ he realized giddily. Well, technically for his family too, but that didn’t count nearly as much as it did now. Not when he kissed him so passionately.

He pulled away and gave him a dopey grin. “I love you,” Gabriel breathed, pupils dilating as he gazed into Jack’s blue eyes. Jack felt heat rise up his cheeks because God damnit, Gabriel was a beautiful man. “Oh, Gabriel,” he sighed, placing hand on the other’s cheek and tilting their heads just right. He leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together for a moment.

“If only there was someone out there who loved you.”

“What—”

“Kids, _now!”_

At the words, Jack jumped away from him as if singed at the same time the room’s door was kicked fully open by boots no one could mistake. And suddenly there were four people standing at the foot of Gabriel’s bed, shooting sticky strings of all colors from sprays they held in their hands. Gabriel had not time to react and ended up getting covered in the things.

Jesse, Olivia, Hana, and Jack all laughed as the victim to their ploys pulled the blanket above his head for cover. “Hey! No cheatin’!” Jesse protested, pausing for a moment to grab the blanket and pull it away from his father. It seemed Gabriel was expecting it as he grabbed the boy’s wrist and pulled him to him in the bed.

“Yer takin’ advantage of my one-armed-ness! Betrayal!” Jesse shouted dramatically as he flailed, kicking his legs instead. “Betrayal?! You’re the one who was shooting weird shit at me! My own son!” Gabriel yelled back just as dramatically before pulling his hands up in a clawing motion. Jesse paled for a moment and wondered why he hasn’t moved out yet.

His thoughts ended abruptly when Gabriel tickled his sides mercilessly, causing him to kick his legs as string now covered both of them, the others not taking their fingers off of the damned spray. “I’ll save you, Jesse!” Hana proclaimed, hopping onto Gabriel’s back. She effectively rendered him confused for a second before he’d put her down to Jesse and rose his hands again.

“Abort mission! _Abort mission!”_ She screeched fruitlessly, turning to Olivia with a desperate gleam in her eyes. The Latina shrugged. “Might as well get in there,” she told no one in particular, discarding of the spray by throwing it behind her and hoping to God that it didn’t break anything in her father’s room. _“Cannon ball!”_

 _“Oli, wait_ —” Jesse plead, but it was far too late. She’d actually curled herself into ball as one would when jumping into a pool, but instead of a body of water, she’s slammed into a body of flesh. Gabriel grunted and landed on the two beneath him, unable to hold back a laugh at the squeaky sound Hana made when squished and the breathless wheeze Jesse managed.

Jack smiled as they laughed, a tangle of limbs and strings. He turned around and got face camera onto his phone, grinning and flashing a peace sign while making sure everyone behind him was visible. Before he’d even managed to put his phone away, a small hand that couldn’t be anyone but Hana’s grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down with them.

He landed with an ‘oof’ and met Gabriel’s eyes. “So _this_ was your prank all along? Break my heart and turn my children against me? I mean, Hana I can understand, she’s _your_ kid after all,” said girl giggled at that, “but Olivia and Jesse? How could you?” Anyone else would have gotten worried at the accusatory tone, but Jack had known Gabriel long enough to recognize the playfulness in his voice.

“She’s your kid too, you know! Also, bribery,” Jack announced proudly while smirking. “Olivia had me get her another Christmas present because she already knew what we got her, don’t ask me how,” the two turned to glare at the girl, who only shrugged with a sly grin, “and I told Jesse and Hana they could take Olivia and go hang out with Emily, Hanzo, and Genji after lunch but only if they pick up Brigitte, Lena, and Lúcio since Mondatta is already driving Fareeha, Satya, and Zenyatta there.”

“And you know Hana wouldn’t pass up _spending some time_ with Lúcio _and_ Brigitte—”

“Shut up, Jesse!” The Korean girl shrieked quickly, causing the others to laugh loudly. She mumbled what was probably curses beneath her breath as her face heated up. “Don’t touch the frog boy, I’m taking that one,” Olivia warned. Everyone’s eyebrows shot upwards at the boldness of the words because who says that around their father?

“A straight couple? In _my_ family?” Gabriel inquired incredulously, eyes widened far too much to be truly shocked. “Ha! _Bi the bi,_ I’m about as straight as you two were earlier,” Olivia snickered at the blush that rose to their cheeks. It was cute, really. “We had to wait out there a long _periollolically_ time before Jack-a boy here finally gave the signal.” The blond man rose an eyebrow. “Jack-a boy? Really?” She, again, shrugged. Gabriel snorted, knowing that she picked that habit from him.

“What makes y’all think _I_ can’t be straight?”

Four pairs of eyes turned and locked onto Jesse’s.

“Sounds about right,” he relented.

“You’re gay for _Hanzo.”_

“Hey—What—get yer nose outta my business!” Jesse protested, snatching his device back from Olivia’s hands and Hana’s prying eyes. The latter giggled while the formed rose an unamused eyebrow. “Heart eyes bro? Really?” Jesse hissed, holding the phone to his chest. “He sent me a picture of sushi!” He shouted, as if that excused him.

“Jesse, you _hate_ sushi,” Gabriel pointed out. “What was I supposed t’send?!” He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. As the others began to cackle, he rolled his eyes but didn’t fight the smile off his face. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Let’s see how well you two fare when we’re stuck in a car with your crushes,” the cowboy challenge.

Gabriel stood up and rose his hands for peacekeeping. “Hey now, before any of that happens,” he began, glancing at everyone in the room, “we _could_ open our presents and start preparing the food so you can all get the hell out of here earlier than you need to.”

Hana asked: “Already?” at the same time Jesse shouted: “Fuck yeah!” immediately followed by a: “Language, _mijo_.” from Gabriel while all three walked out the door. As their footsteps became increasingly distant, Jack sighed in content. Another successful day, another successful prank, and another successful Christmas.

“You know, she’s technically not.”

Jack yelped, whirling around to find Olivia standing behind him with a raised eyebrow. “I forgot you were still here,” he laughed. “Why haven’t you left with the others? You never miss it when Gabriel cooks. Usually because you keep eating his ingredients, but I digress,” he finalized, snorting. Olivia laughed too for a moment, before sighing and biting her lip.

The man’s brows furrowed and he took a step forward. “Olivia?” At her name, she inhaled and looked up at him with flattened lips. She looked frustrated, with her arms crossed in front of her and eyes glaring into Jack’s. For a moment, Jack wondered if he’d done something wrong, maybe something to offend her somehow.

“She’s technically not his kid,” she repeated. At his confused look, she growled exasperatedly. “Hana. I’m talking about Hana. Earlier you told Gabe— you told _dad_ — that she was his kid too. She’s not. She’s _your_ kid.” Jack pulled back with furrowed brows, still confused. “Oli, what are you talking about? Of course, she’s his kid too. She’s our kid. You’re _our_ children.” He paused, then swallowed with more difficulty than he would admit. “Is there… something wrong with that?”

Her head snapped up and she looked at him in what could only be called alarm. _“No!”_ She interjected, flailing her arms about wildly. “No, of course not! _El tonto!”_ He didn’t know enough Spanish to know _exactly_ what she’d said but he’s been with Gabriel long enough to be able to identify the words as an insult of some sort.

“Then what’s going on? What’s this about, Oli?” He pressed, worrying his brows in concern. The girl exhaled heavily, putting her hands together in a motion that implied that she was praying to whatever deity watching her as of now to lend her strength to successfully communicate with the idiot of a man in front of her. Not that he minded.

“Look,” she began, “Hana’s not my sister. And you’re not my dad.”

Ouch. That stung.

_“Legally.”_

Oh.

_Oh._

“I _want_ to call Hana my sister. I _want_ to call you my dad. But most importantly, I just want _papá_ to be happy.” Jack’s eyes softened at the words and Olivia looked away, red rising to her cheeks. “Both you and I know that there’s no one in the world that could ever make Gabe as happy as you do. So. Y’know.” She rose one of her hands and pointed at her ring finger with the other.

 

Well then.

He’s got some planning to do.

**[+1]**

“Gabriel,” someone sang, “I _believe_ you owe me twenty dollars.”

Gabriel turned to the owner of the voice who turned out to be none another than Moira O’Deorain. They stood behind him smugly, holding a champagne glass in one of their hands, heterochronic eyes gleaming in a way that screamed complacent. Gabriel rose an eyebrow and laughed. “Oh yeah? What for?” He asked.

Instead of answering his question with words, Moira turned to their left and pointed shamelessly. Gabriel turned his head to look and felt his eyebrows elevate slightly. There stood Amelie Lacriox, in front of her a brute of a man that goes by the name of Akande Ogundium. The two seemed to be hitting it off, clinking their wine glasses and laughing at whatever had been said.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Gabriel muttered in surprise. Gabriel had known Akande for a good while, but he didn’t once think that the man was interested in any sort of relationship, let alone forming one with Amelie. Moira, on the other hand, thought the two were a match made in Heaven, and so the bet had begun. And it looks to be in their favor.

“Uh-uh, you’ll only get the cash when the two go on an actual date together,” Gabriel teased, taking the twenty out of his pocket only to tease them with it, waving it around erratically. Moira opened their mouth to protest before grinning and raising their eyebrow. Gabriel furrowed his brows and turned around, looking again.

Amelie was laughing, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and covering her mouth, sharp eyes glancing away from the man in front of her. Akande looked at her and gave a small smile that Gabriel already recognized. He extended his arm to her and for a brief moment, Amelie hesitated, glancing between the arm and Akande’s face. Finally, she hooked their elbows and glanced at him, her lips twitching upwards slightly. He smiled at her again and the two disappeared outside, so doubt to take a walk throughout Amelie’s _huge castle._

“Bettin’ on your friends? Ain’t y’all too old for that?” Jesse’s voice game from Gabriel’s side, amused. “Not if you know how to play,” Moira mused, Irish accent thickly coating their words as they closed their palm around the twenty-dollar bill Gabriel handed to them. “And besides, aren’t you too _young_ to be holding that beer in your hands, Jesse McCree-Reyes?”

“Don’t get smart wit’ me, you know it ain’t mine,” he said, rolling his eyes, “Jack gave it to pa to hold it for’em till he gets back then it was handed down to me. Reckon it’s the new family heirloom, other than constant shrugging and homosexuality.” At that, Gabriel choked on his drink, sputtering and coughing between laughs as Moira chuckled, slightly patting his back as Jesse winked at them.

Sudden thumping interrupted them however as someone skidded to a halt in front of the trio. “Bibi Moira, have you seen Genji? Or even Hanzo?” Emily asked, panting breathlessly as she rest her hands on her knees and looked up at them. “No, I haven’t,” Moira shook their head, causing their niece to groan almost painfully, “why are you looking for them?”

“I think they’re tormenting my girlfriend somewhere,” she whined, “because I can’t find Lena anywhere in this damn castle which means Genji’s probably challenged her for a race and I know she’s a runner and track team and everything but it’s _really_ not good for her heart condition to just run anytime and anywhere according to—”

“My dearest, most favorite cousin, how dare you imply such a horrible thing about me!” Emily whirled around to find Genji and Hanzo standing before her, Angela not far behind them. “Why, Hanzo and I have been keeping mother company since we got here!” The green-haired Japanese boy exclaimed, raising his voice high and mocking, pretending to be affronted.

Emily glanced at Hanzo who only nodded in confirmation. “I’m your _only_ cousin, silly,” she snickered, finally able to catch her breath, “do you guys know where she might be, at least?” She inquired, hopeful. Hanzo shook his head, much to dismay. However, a new voice joined the conversation, fading in as if they were walking as they spoke. Which they technically were.

“I saw her in the other room partaking in some sort of competition,” the new voice, Lucio, said, and Emily considerably paled, “nothin’ that looks physical! But Fareeha and Satya, Jamison and Mako, and Hana and Brigitte are all arguing about who’s the cutest couple and she just kinda got caught in the middle. Two rooms over if you’ll go stop her.”

As Emily began to walk away, Genji _giggled._ “Oh. My _God,_ where’s Zenyatta? I’ve got to get in on this! No one beats me and Zen!” He shouted, bouncing on his toes excitedly as he scanned the room. Instead of finding Zenyatta, he found his older brother Mondatta, standing in the corner of the room and very obviously being flirted with by Maximillen.

Genji cringed, turning to Moira. “Renny, did I ever tell you that you’re my favorite parent and that you’re the best in the whole world? Like, thank you so much for adopting Hanzo and me and then getting engaged to mother? Now I’ve got this super complete family? And—”

“Just go,” they said with a roll of their eyes. Genji shouted what sounded like some thanks and bolted towards the two men to ask for his own partner. Angela chuckled and pecked Moira’s check knowingly, placing her hands on their arms and resting against them, close enough for comforting contact but not enough to lean on them heavily.

Gabriel watched Moira’s eyes dilate and snorted. He recalled when they’d tease him and Jack for being so dopey, and yet, here they were. They seemed to notice the laugh and turned their nose up at them, pumping one shoulder indifferently as a display of dominance, but their smirk and red skin showed their true feelings. Their German fiancée snickered, pulling at their arm slightly.

Hanzo was left staring after the direction his brother left in and tensed, not quote sure what to do now that Genji’s disappeared, torn between following him and sticking with his parents. Jesse noticed the apprehensive behavior and smiled softly before clearing his throat and stepping forward. “Hey Han, I may not know my way ‘round this place but I know it’s got somewhere we can beat stuff up. Why don’t we see whose prosthetics are stronger this time ‘round? ‘ve got a good feelin’ my arm’s gon’ win against your legs today.”

At first, the eldest Shimada-O’Deorain-Zeigler boy looked on in alarm and confused, before he donned a smirk and rose an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted,” he spoke smoothly, stepping next to Jesse, “shall we?” Jesse grinned stupidly, shrugging his shoulders for no reason at all, handing Gabriel Jack’s beer back then intertwining their fingers and walking away from the trio.

“Hey, no destroying Guillard property! Amelie’s probably gonna make me pay her in food,” he grumbled, “I’ll be making her _tamales_ for the rest of my days!” Jesse just laughed and Hanzo’s shoulders shook in silent chuckles. Gabriel sighed in exasperation, but everyone in this damn castle knew he’d cook for Amelie without her even asking him to.

“Speaking of, _jefe_ , I just found the perfect competitor for you!” Olivia’s voice cut through the air, but she was nowhere to be seen. Realizing this, she snapped her fingers from an anonymous location. “Baby, lift me up, they can’t see me,” she muttered loud enough. Lucio hopped slightly and Olivia popped up from behind him, toothy grin on her face as she wrapped her arms around her partner’s neck.

Gabriel rose an eyebrow at the sight. “Any reason you’re giving my spoiled brat of a daughter a piggy bag ride while you’re on skates, Lucio?” He asked the man, amusement very clear in his voice. Lucio opened his mouth to answer, but Olivia intervened from behind him. “Uh, obviously because I’m a princess who deserves nothing less?”

“Her feet hurt from the heels,” Lucio explained, grinning at the whine Olivia emitted from behind him, holding her closer. Gabriel nodded. That made more sense. “So anyways, what’s this about competition?” The Latino man asked, crossing his arms and staring at his daughter, a challenge unspoken.

She readily took the bait and lifted herself up. “Brazilian cuisine. And the way Lucio does it? Mind blowing, _mi padre._ Mind. Blowing.” Gabriel glanced from Olivia to Lucio, narrowing his eyes as if to ask if it were true. “Ahaha, I’m- I’m really not that good! I doubt I’m better than you at cooking, music is more of my forte, honestly.”

“Lucio, _mi hombre guapo,_ you don’t even _know_ how good you are. Seriously, Gabe. He’s amazing.” Olivia spoke seriously, turning to her father with a grin. Gabriel leaned back and grinned himself, eyeing Lucio’s nervous posture that would probably drop his daughter if he remained in. “Well, I don’t think Olivia’s lying, for once.”

“Hey!” She yelled in protest, but it fell on deaf ears. She deserved that. “Cook off. Friday. My place. You in?” Lucio’s jaw hung open, eyes widened. He suddenly grinned and hopped excitedly. “Hell yeah!” He spoke joyously, laughing almost in disbelief. Gabriel smiled. He liked this one. “May the best chef win,” he said, shrugging with a sly grin.

A loud chime shook the entire building and startled the lights out of the only person loud enough to choke across a room and still be heard, Reinhardt. Torbjorn stood next to wife Ingrid and laughed preposterously loud while Ana patted her husband’s back in a poor attempt at helping him out, considering she was also laughing.

As the ringing left Gabriel’s ears, he briefly wondered if Satya was alright before Olivia gasped in delight. “That’s gotta be Lynx! He’s the only one not here yet!” She glanced at her father in excitement. Gabriel only smiled at her softly. “Baby, onwards to the front door!” She ordered from behind him. Lucio laughed glancing at her for a brief moment then shrugging at Gabriel helplessly. “Gotcha,” he replied, speeding off in the direction she pointed in.

“Amelie has maids hired here for that,” Angela tried to call after them from beside her fiancée but it was to no avail as they had gotten too far to hear her. They’d made it to the door and somehow, before it was even open, Lynx and Olivia were greeting each other in their signature handshake. Lynx’s mothers, Aleksandra and Mei, watched the scene, one amused and one annoyed.

“SevenTeen, my dude! It’s been _way_ too long!” Olivia laughed, hugging the boy and patting his back. “Agreed, Sombra, agreed,” her fellow hacker friend replied almost somberly, nodding his head as if acknowledging a tragedy, before looking up at her and grinning in excitement once more. The two rarely got to hang out and he was glad to see her.

Olivia cleared her throat and turned to the two women behind him. “Hey misses and misses Ling-Zhou-Zaryanova.” She greeted, barely able to not stumble on the words. Mei, the shorter woman, giggled, knowing their name had always been difficult for Olivia to pronounce. “Hi Olivia! How’ve you been?” She spoke animatedly, smiling.

Aleksandra, however, only nodded firmly. “Olivia.” The girl nodded back at her, watching as the wives walked past them hand in hand into the palace. Olivia turned to Lynx and smiled. “Yo, you see that shit, _chico?!_ She used my _name!”_ Lucio looked between them, confused about why they’d be happy about something so trivial, but sharing their happiness nonetheless.

Lynx nodded erratically. “She’s warming up to you, dude!” The duo laughed maniacally, so Lucio joined them, ever the one to love joy. “Gotta say, I didn’t think you’d manage to pull the color palettes off!” Olivia said, an impressed tone in her voice. “Yeah man, you look bomb as hell!” Lucio agreed, nodding in approval at the outfit Lynx wore.

“Thanks man,” the other beamed, “the bi flag and the ace flag share like one color so it wasn’t that hard to make something that works. It’s the lack of turquoise that was a pain in the ass.” As he spoke, he twirled in a circle, showing his outfit off. Olivia threw an arm around Lucio’s shoulders and he grinned at her as they pointed their thumbs at themselves. “Bi pride!”

“Yeah!” Lynx exclaimed, raising his hands for high fives which both of them complied to. As the three walked back, Olivia turned to her friend and smiled almost wickedly. “So,” she sang, “I know every nook and cranny of this place. Probably more than you. Wanna bet?” Lynx scoffed. “Do I ever? You’re on!” Olivia laughed and pointed forward. _“Vamanos!”_  

The shout caught her father’s attention. _“Don’t break any Guillard property!”_ He repeated, before sagging in defeat and smiling. Jack suddenly appeared behind Gabriel, wrapping his arms around his waist and placing his chin on his shoulders. “I think the kids are in good hands, don’t you?” If the sudden appearance startled the Latino he didn’t show it, instead turning around and holding the other’s gaze. “Jack, where the hell have you been? I’ve been holding your beer for you for ages, one would think you’d filmed a whole movie.”

Moira and Angela laughed at the blatant lie and he shushed them jokingly. Jack obviously caught on and rolled his eyes, smiling fondly at Gabriel. “Just had something to do. I’m back now anyway.” Gabriel furrowed his brows and tilted his head at his lover, confused and slightly suspicious. “Jack. You cannot prank me at someone else’s house.”

“I won’t!” Jack reassure with a high-pitched voice, glancing away from his lover. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the blond, but Jack only laughed and squeezed them together. “I swear. I’ll prank you when we go home.” At the words, Gabriel flattened his lips and became less tense. “Yes. Because that makes me feel so much better.” Jack chuckled. “Can’t win’em all.”

Soft clinking of metal against glass caught the people’s attention as the chatter halted and the building fell to a hush. At the source of the sound, Amelie stood on a chair with a fork in hand and a wine glass in the other. As she moved to stand on the ground, Akande extended a hand for her. She looked him in the eyes for a moment before taking his hand and letting herself down. “Thank you,” she said, face neutral, before turning to the rest.

“This is the first time for many of you, if not all of you, in the Guillard palace, and I just wanted to express my gratitude that you showed up at all to celebrate this day together,” Amelie spoke clearly, eyes sharp and voice leveled. But Gabriel could recognize the true gratitude in her words. She truly was glad people had showed up the one time she hosts the Christmas party.

“In order not to keep anyone waiting anymore, because from the sheer amount of people here I myself am getting impatient,” the crowd chuckled, “I suppose it is time to open our gifts to one another, is it not?” At the words, the people erupted into cheers, some even already barreling towards the wrapped boxes.

From lovers to friends to siblings to acquaintances, everyone that was alerted of the other’s attendance to the party had gotten something. Zenyatta laughed in disbelief at the new _wheelchair_ Genji had gotten him (most likely with his parents’ help but it’s the thought that counts), pulling him down and kissing him then and there. Satya smiled softly and pressed her lips to Jamison and Mako’s cheeks, holding the beautiful blue matching set of earrings and necklace they’d collaborated on and gotten her. Akande felt his breath get knocked out of his lungs as he stared at the tiny shoes and card in his hands with the word _“Efi”_ written on it in cursive and when he stared at his sister Orisa, she only nodded in glee, clasping her husband Winston’s hands tightly. Bastion had received something from _every single member_ of Torbjorn’s family, and despite his best efforts, got overwhelmed and began to joyfully weep into Lynx’s shoulder, who could only pat his sensitive partner’s back and smile fondly.

As Gabriel grabbed a gift, someone snagged it from his hand very quickly. He rose an intimidating eyebrow at the person before realizing who it was. “Ah, ah, ah,” Jack sang, “leave best for last.” He whispered, pressing a chaste kiss to Gabriel’s lips and pulling away with a sly grin. Gabriel found himself getting curious as to what was in the box and it motivated him to speed through his other presents.

Gabriel was through with his presents and went to Jack for his, but the other only wagged his finger, much to his dismay. “The _last_ last.” Gabriel groaned and leaned back, watching as everyone opened more presents. More and more presents kept coming and more and more kept opening. As the last of them trickled in, Gabriel reached for the wrapped box impatiently and narrowed his eyes at his lover, challenging him to take the gift away from him again.

Jack laughed and took his hands off of the merchandise, arms throwing themselves up in the air for show. Gabriel shot him a victorious smirk and narrowed his eyes, puffing his chest and greedily grabbing the present. It seemed to be carefully wrapped, green plastic all over yellow ribbons that formed a beautiful- oh, it was a clip-on.

Gabriel flattened his lips and swayed as he turned back to Jack, who only grinned sheepishly and shrugged. The Latino rolled his eyes and turned back around, giving Jack a raised eyebrow from behind him before focusing at the task at hand. As he opened the gift, he attempted to imagine what could possibly be in there.

He felt the ruse die out when he finally opened it, instead being replaced by defeat. “Really, Jack,” Gabriel scoffed loudly as he grabbed the white sheet of paper from within the box, “an empty paper? That’s your cheapest prank y—” Gabriel found his words ending abruptly as he made a double take at the paper he waved around wildly. There was something on the other side of the paper.

He rolled his eyes, knowing damn well it was going to say something stupid like _“You’ve been pranked!”_ or _“Will you marry me?”_ or—

Wait, what?

Gabriel whirled around, mouth open and ready to speak, but instead his teeth clanked as his head dropped down and looked at the ground.

Jack was there on one knee with an open box in his hand and a dopey grin on his face.

Gabriel stopped breathing.

“I’m not very good at this,” Jack started, head swaying as if he were dizzy, “even though I’ve been planning this for a _year_. Since last Christmas, actually. But in hindsight, I should’ve been planning this for much longer because Gabriel you’ve been driving me insane since day one, you fucking bastard.” Jack breathed, laughing.

Before Jack could continue, Gabriel interjected. “Jack, if _this_ is your idea of a _prank_ — _”_

The blond laughed nervously and waved one of his hands in the air. “ _No,_ no, Gabe,” he reassured, shaking his head almost in amusement, “I swear to you, Gabe. This isn’t a prank. This is real.” He said, leaning forward slightly and lifting the box upwards waving it slightly. “This is happening.”

Gabriel remained silent, looking on at him warily. Jack sighs, he deserves the suspicion, he supposes. “Listen, Gabe,” he began carefully, shutting his eyes, “you make me happy. So, _so_ stupidly happy. And I can only imagine that I’m not that bad myself.” At the words, Gabriel smiled gently, tilting his head at Jack in endearment.

“All I’ve ever wanted was to make you happy, Gabe. And even though we’re both happy right now, together, like this…” Jack breathed and looked up at his lover, worrying his brows and smiling softly. “Will you make me the happiest man in the world? Gabriel Reyes, will you marry me?”

Silence.

“You _son of a bitch_ , you _know_ the answer’s _yes_ , _mierda_ — _!”_

Gabriel grabbed Jack by his face and pulled him upwards, slamming their mouths together desperately and wrapping his arms around him possessively. Jack laughed helplessly into the kiss, hands landing gently on the other’s sides and running themselves up and down. He pushed himself away slightly, only to grab Gabriel’s hand gently, slowly pushing the ring onto his ring finger and beaming at him stupidly, to which Gabriel returned and kissed him again.

Sudden hollering had the two pulling away from each other with a jump, glancing around them as if they’d suddenly remembered they were in a Christmas party. Gabriel laughed breathlessly and hid his face in Jack’s shoulder for a moment, only because he couldn’t stop _laughing,_ before pressing their foreheads together and staring at each other’s eyes.

No matter how sappy it sounded, the two looked _proud_ of each other.

This is good. They were happy.

They were happy.

“You know I’m still pranking you next year, right?”

_“Take your fucking ring Morrison I swear to God_ _—"_

**Author's Note:**

> Yo by the wayyyy "bibi" is like aunt/uncle but for nonbinary people which is rad and I found out hella quick


End file.
